Fairytale
by Special Agent Tee-vah
Summary: Now that she thinks about it, maybe she's found her happy ending. Maybe she let it go six months ago. Maybe it's time to get it back.


**Hey!**

**So, this is the sequel to Porcelain, and I hope you like it!**

* * *

Sleep comes easy to him now. He doesn't have to worry that he may never see her again. He knows that she's coming back.

He doesn't know when she'll be back, but the fact that one day, she'll return, is more than enough for him. It's enough to tide him by, for now.

Screw it being enough, he misses her. Way too much.

Every single day, he considers calling her, just to see how she's doing. Yet, he knows that when she says that she needs time to think, she means it, and calling her, if anything, would put her right back where she started.

Every day, he finds himself staring at her name on his phone, his finger hovering over the call button. He's this close to calling her; his patience is wearing thin.

Going from hearing her voice everyday to not hearing it for four months straight, for him, that's like a trip to hell.

It's painful, and it hurts.

Being able to see her at night, is a small consolation to him.

It's been six months since he left Israel.

Or, as he likes to think, since he left her behind in Israel.

This situation is a horrible reminder to him. The last time they left her in Israel, she had almost died. It was bad enough then, but anything else now, would be worse.

The days pass by in one grey blur for him; everything's the same and he can't bring himself to care all that much anymore.

Six months of no contact is enough for him to start worrying again. Screw her promise, screw her time to think, he needs to know that she's okay. He picks up his phone, and he's calls her number.

"The number you have called is unavail-" _Damn it._

That night, he stays up, thinking about everything. What there was, what there could have been, and what would be.

There's this small part of his brain that can't stop worrying. It's irrational, he knows, but his instincts haven't worn off. When his partner doesn't pick up her phone, there might be something wrong.

He's _this close_ to returning to Israel.

* * *

She's sitting on her porch, her laptop open in front of her. It's been six months; six months of no contact. No contact with Abby, no contact with McGee, no contact with Gibbs, no contact with Tony.

_Stop this for him._

The look on Tony's face said it all. He had hoped it was him. He had hoped that maybe, just maybe, he meant more to Ziva.

She had so badly wanted to tell him that the 'him' she was referring to was both he and Gibbs. Gibbs, for being her father figure when hers wasn't, and Tony just for being…Tony.

The one problem in that situation was that if he knew that she was talking about him, he would have stayed. He would have stayed with her to try and help her, to try and fix her.

If only he knew that he'd already done that, she just needed time to re-evaluate everything.

She knew that he was wondering, _stop what?_

To her, the answer was simple. For others, maybe not so much.

She wanted to stop being the monster she had become. She wanted to get past it all, to move on and leave her past behind. Going back to her past, to go over the things that she had done, from when she was a child until now. Maybe, just maybe, this would be enough to forget.

_This little girl was strong enough to walk away._

What changed?

Where was that little girl; where was that Ziva David? The strong little ballerina, the little girl who wanted to ride a horse, the little girl who was _oh so innocent_, who knew no wrong and put her father on her pedestal?

She knew the answer. Her father had ruined that little girl. He had shown her the horrors of the world; the horrors of his world. He had shown her the cruelty of mankind without a second thought. She was too young, and it was too much.

He had broken her, just like he had broken Ari, and no doubt would have done to Tali.

She had hoped that maybe, going back and revisiting her past would have let her relive the amazing memories of her childhood, where her father loved her, and she thought he could do no wrong. Maybe the memories could cancel out all the wrong.

Once they are broken, they are disposable.

The thing about going back was that she remembered her childhood. The days when she had dreamed for a fairytale happy ending. Meet her prince charming, get married, live happily ever after.

Somewhere along the line, she began to believe that love didn't exist. That people were delusional, because love was made up of lies.

_Do you believe in soul mates?_

Her question those few years ago had a hidden statement, but she doubted that he understood it.

_Do you believe in soul mates, because I don't._

* * *

Back at her grandmother's house, she had found a diary, with the scribble of a child's handwriting on the front, stating, "Property of Ziva David. Don't open this please, abba."

When she opened it up, she realized that her younger self was far wiser than she was.

_Dear diary,_

_Today at school, we were told to write a journal entry about anything, as long as it was in English. So I thought that maybe, I would write about fairytales._

_Fairytales are magical. The girl is beautiful, both inside and out. Her prince charming always finds her, and they always have a happy ending. There is always a happy ever after, despite the problems in the way. The girl always seems to have a good life, and when the prince comes her way, everything is perfect. When they are together, it's like there's nothing wrong. I guess I could say, when they're together, sparks fly._

_I guess you could say that the princess and the prince charming are soul mates. Just like mama and abba. I wondered before, how do you know that you've met your soul mate? I think that there's an invisible thread that connects them. The thread cannot be broken, it is intangible. There is nothing there. Yet, when you meet, you just know. It's like, with every step you take towards them, the string becomes shorter, until finally, both of you just have the ends of the thread left. Once you meet, the thread ends connect, and there it is. You, and your soul mate. It is magical, it is perfect._

_Will I ever get my happy ever after? I think Ari might just have, I've seen him talking to the girl next door. They both look so happy when they're together. Maybe one day, Tali will find hers. I like to think that I would, too._

_Everyone deserves their happy ending._

_Love,_

_Ziva_

She remembers showing this to her mother, and it was her mother's response that she remembered the clearest.

"_You make your fairytale, Zivalah,"_ she had said affectionately, _"You make your fairytale, you decide your own happy ending."_ She ruffled her hair, and young Ziva had curled up into her mother's side.

That had been so long ago, before she had lost all her childhood innocence. Now that she thinks about it, maybe she's already found her happy ending. Maybe she let it go six months ago.

Maybe it's time to get it back.

* * *

It's almost been seven months, and he's practically the walking dead. He's going through the motions of his daily routine, but that's about it. Yet, something about today seems like it would be different, he can feel it.

He walks into the squad room, and the desk which Bishop occupied is empty. He refuses to call it her desk; the desk directly opposite him belonged to one person, and one person alone.

"Morning, boss…?" he stares at the desk opposite him. There's an unspoken question, but of course, Gibbs can tell.

"DiNozzo," he grunts his greeting, "Bishop transferred. We're getting another agent tomorrow." Tony nods slowly, before turning to his computer.

It's a mere few hours later, when he looks up from his computer screen, and he swears that he sees a mass of chocolate brown curls walk into the elevator. He's up and out of the squad room within a matter of seconds, and he's trying to get to the elevator.

The doors close just as he catches sight of brown curls, and he can't stop himself from calling out her name. The doors close before he gets a reaction. His shoulders slump, and he walks back to the squad room.

"She's not here, DiNozzo. She's gone." Gibbs' voice holds enough conviction for him to slide back into his seat without another word, but it lacks the conviction that tells him that she won't return, ever.

That night, he's walking to his car, ready to go home, when he realizes that he left his keys in his desk. Sighing, he turns around and goes back in. This is not a building where he would willingly spend his free time in, especially when he's alone.

He goes up and takes his keys from his drawer. When he looks up from his desk, he realizes that there are plants there.

_What the hell?_

Those definitely weren't there earlier in the day.

_Who the hell is this agent?_

He looks around, but there's no one around. Shaking his head, he goes back to his car, ready to go home.

When he gets home, he realizes a few things pretty quick. There's a lot of fresh food in his fridge. His laundry's been done, and his house is clean. There's a stark contrast to how it was before, because let's face it; he couldn't bring himself to care about the state of his house. There were more important matters. He's walking around the house, and it doesn't look like very much else was changed. If he looked closely enough though, he would have noticed the small suitcase in his spare bedroom.

When he walks into his bedroom, he notices a little card at the table beside his bed.

_Having fun? :-)_

He freezes, simply staring at the card.

_No, it can't be._

He puts it down, shaking his head, and goes to take a shower.

He needs to clear his head, this is too much.

* * *

It's six in the morning, and he's already in the elevator on the way up to the squad room. He's throwing himself into his work, so as to not let his mind get overwhelmed by everything else.

He sits at his desk and looks up at the desk across from him. Now, the items have been rearranged. The plants all placed properly, files in specific positions, stationery in holders. It's almost as if this person knew exactly where to place things. The one thing that struck him about the whole thing though, was that the computer screen was lit. The computer was on.

_The agent was already here. Who was this guy?_

He switches on his computer, and a note pops up.

_Miss me? xo_

He groans audibly, covering his face with his hands. He's hallucinating, he's sure of it. It was another night of sleeplessness, and he was probably way too tired.

It's then that a slim pair of arms sneak over his shoulders from behind, and slowly remove his hands from his face, two small hands covering his eyes. He would recognize that scent of lavender and vanilla anywhere.

"_I have something better than bagging groceries for you." _It's a soft whisper, almost inaudible.

"I'm seeing things, I'm hearing things, I'm feeling things, I'm smelling things, oh god help me," he murmurs.

"_You're not imagining things, Tony. I'm right here."_ The whisper is right by his left ear, and he can feel the warm breath tickling his ear. He freezes, and slowly removes the hands from his eyes. He turns his head, and he sees the most beautiful sight he's ever seen.

She's standing right in front of him, brown eyes sparkling, with the happiest smile on her face.

"Your house is a mess, Di-" she's cut off by him grabbing the back of her head, pulling her close, and closing the gap once more. Her arms loop around his neck, trying to pull him closer. She's trapped between the wall and him, and she's perfectly fine with it.

"You're actually here," he's breathless when he pulls away, and he's staring at her in complete awe. His forehead is resting against hers, and he's just…looking at her. She nods simply, and he laughs, lifting her up and hugging her as tightly to him as possible.

"But how are you in here-?" he suddenly pauses, and looks at her.

"You said even bagging groceries would be good enough?" he nods slowly at this.

"Try reinstatement."

"So you're back on the team? You're our new agent?"

"Do I look like a new agent to you, Tony?"

"_Ziva David."_ She laughs at the look on his face. He is completely serious, but at the same time, his face holds this childish hope to it. She nods, and that's all it takes for him to scoop her back up and kiss her again.

"_God, I love you so much."_ He freezes; did he just say that? It's her complete lack of reaction that shocks him the most. She just looks up at him, and gives him a quick peck, murmuring the words against his lips.

_I love you too._

He spins her around, and takes a small gold chain out of his pocket. He puts it on her neck, and she's just staring at it.

"I kept it with me, waiting for you to come back and take it from me." She's rendered completely speechless, and she just stands there. He wraps his arms around her from behind, burying his face into her neck, and savours the feeling of being able to hold her once more.

"_I missed you."_

"DiNozzo!" he doesn't even look up; he doesn't care anymore. He's let her go too many times, and he's not doing it again.

"Yeah, boss?"

"Happy birthday, she's your present." Ziva's shoulders are shaking with laughter, and he pokes her in the side.

"You planned this?"

"Been planning this for weeks now."

"Sneaky little ninja." He chuckles, and lets her get back to her job.

Maybe this was their fairytale. Maybe this was their happily ever after.

* * *

**With that, concludes this story. What did you guys think? I kinda liked writing this, I'm not sure why. Maybe it was because I could picture how this played out? I'm not sure. Either way, this is one of my longer fics, and one of the ones that I wrote the fastest. As in, two hours later, this is the final product, post-editing and all. Anyways, I hope you guys liked it! Leave a review and let me know what you guys think of it? I'd really appreciate that (:**

**xx, Manda**

**Also, Past, Present and Future has given me a lot of ideas of what to write, and I'm trying to plan these all out. My finals end on Tuesday, and I have a break from school on Wednesday and Thursday [they're marking days, and on Wednesday I have to be in school for a workshop] but I have a lot more time to write! [I find myself writing the most during my finals week o.o] Anyways, so you'll probably see a lot more stories from me from now on, if this is how it continues. I'm sorry my A/Ns are so long, I just start one and it continues and spirals.**

**Sophie: Maybe this was enough? ;)**


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